House approves FY 2014 budget bill as Senate continues debate

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2013 – The House approved today, with
a 221-207 party-line vote, its fiscal year 2014 budget bill (H.Con.Res.
25) that aims to reduce deficits by $4.6 trillion over
the next 10 years by making major cuts to many domestic programs.

Meanwhile, the Senate slowly trudged through debate on its
FY 2014 budget plan (S.Con.Res.
8) seeks to reduce the deficit by more than $4
trillion in 10 years and provide a long-term spending guideline for the USDA.

In the House, 221 Republicans
supported the bill. Opposing the bill were 197 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

“We are
offering a responsible, balanced budget,” said House Budget Committee Chairman
Bob Ryan, R-Wis. “It recognizes that if we can’t get a handle on our
out-of-control debt, we will lose control of our future. We cut wasteful
spending and balance the budget.”

In the
Senate, Senate Budget Committee Patty Murray, D-Wash., said her budget calls
for $1 trillion in additional tax revenues, $100 billion in new infrastructure
and jobs spending and modest cuts to health care programs.

“Our
budget is built on three principles: number one, we need to protect our fragile
economic recovery, create jobs, and invest in long-term growth,” Murray said.
“Number two, we need to tackle our deficit and debt fairly and
responsibly. And number three, we need to keep the promises we’ve made as
a nation to our seniors, our families, and our communities.”

At
least 70 amendments have been offered to the bill, and the Senate is expected
Friday to hold a “vote-a-rama,” in which senators vote on a large number of
consecutively with little debate.

Topics
of most of the amendments remain a mystery, but the ones that have been
discussed today on the floor deal largely with the tax code, health care and
abortions.

So far,
one agriculture-related amendment has been identified.

Sen. Mike
Johanns, R-Neb., intends to offer an amendment that would instruct the Senate
Agriculture Committee to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from
conducting aerial surveillance to inspect or to record images of agricultural
operations as part of the upcoming reauthorization of the farm bill. “The
amendment recognizes the importance of the Clean Water Act and does not affect
the use of traditional on-site inspections to ensure compliance with
environmental regulations,” a Johanns aide said.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Dr. Jayson Lusk, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Agriculture Economics Department at Purdue University. With heightened debate on food and farm policy surrounding the development of a new farm bill, Dr. Lusk offers challenging insight about the relationship between political persuasion and food, work requirements for SNAP recipients and evolving preferences in meat consumption.

The House Agriculture Committee was set to mark up a new farm bill next week, but Democratic objections over planned nutrition changes have caused a delay. Agri-Pulse's Phil Brasher and Spencer Chase have more on that and a fix to the GOP tax bill in this week's video.

The world of agriculture extends beyond what’s growing in your field or living in your barn, and here at Agri-Pulse, we understand that. We make it our duty to inform you of the most up-to-date agricultural and rural policy decisions being made in Washington D.C. and examine how they will affect you – the farmer, the lobbyist, the government employee, the educator, the consultant and the concerned citizen.